The Moment of Passing
by abregaza
Summary: COMPLETE My response to the CH ghost challenge, ML, May contain spoilers for Harbor Lights


DISCLAIMER: This fan-fiction is written purely for enjoyment purposes, there is no personal profit being made.  
  
A/N: My response to the Cape Haven Ghost Fic Challenge, Mucho thanks to Milla and Glennan for the beta.  
  
  
  
THE MOMENT OF PASSING Abregaza  
  
  
  
  
  
"You've reached my pager. Punch in your number."  
  
Logan hesitated for only a second before punching in his number and hanging up the phone. Even with all that stood between himself and Max; the virus and the pain it was causing them, the urge to see her was too great, even the risk of death didn't matter so long as he could see her just for a moment.  
  
He was halfway to the computer when the phone began to ring and quickly he backtracked, almost tipping over his chair in his eagerness to get to the phone. Snatching it up, he was disappointed that it was only Asha, and, after listening to her litany of complaints for a few moments, he asked if he could ring her back later; after all he was expecting an important call.  
  
Settling in front of the computer he sighed and stretched slightly - still a little tight after his earlier workout - before opening his investigation of Agent White and the Familiars and beginning to work.  
  
He had only been working a few minutes before he sensed a presence behind him. Turning, he smiled at the sight that greeted his eager eyes.  
  
Leaning in the doorway was Max, one hip propped against the frame, black windbreaker draped over her arm, accentuating the tan, sleeveless turtleneck and tight black pants she was wearing.  
  
"Hey," she drawled, a smile matching his spreading across her face "You look busy."  
  
"Not really," he replied, gesturing her towards the kitchen "Guess you got my page?"  
  
"Something like that," she running her hand through her hair "Wasn't at work and I thought we needed to talk."  
  
"Yeah." He replied glancing at her as the awkwardness that had been dogging them for the past few weeks filled the air. Noticing she was struggling for words he poured them each a cup of coffee, pushing her mug across the counter towards her.  
  
Max picked it up, restlessly moving it from hand to hand as the silence continued for a moment. With a shake of her head she met Logan's eyes and stilled.  
  
"So," began Max, "I guess..." She looked into her coffee and sighed, "I guess I..." She placed the cup on the bench and looked into his eyes, "I wanted to tell you I love you."  
  
"Max," he said, almost bursting with joy at the awareness that this incredible woman loved him.  
  
Raising a hand as if to stroke her face he forced himself to abort the motion - pain tore at him as he realised they had wasted so much time - and now at this moment when she had declared her love for him, even a simple caress was out of the question.  
  
As he stared at her, the caress of his eyes so fervent as to almost be physical, she shivered slightly.  
  
Logan was devouring her with his eyes; she was so vital and full of life, almost like oxygen she sustained him in some way he hadn't even imagined before meeting her.  
  
She seemed almost ethereal to him as she leaned closer, only inches away from him, she always had an inner glow but today there was something more in her aura.  
  
"You need to know that," she said as he opened his mouth to speak "You need to know that now."  
  
Something was tugging at him, a sense of wrongness that shook him for a moment, staring into her eyes he shook it off, the messages those dark pools were sending forcing all other considerations away for the moment.  
  
"I do, Max," he said seriously, the words were a vow in more than one sense; a vow that he recognised the love between them and the strength of that love, but also that their love would last beyond eternity.  
  
"Why now?" he asked suddenly, the uneasiness he had felt tugging again at his brain.  
  
"You need to know before I do this," she replied, leaning in to kiss him softly.  
  
The feeling of her soft full lips moving gently against his own was the closest Logan had been to heaven in this lifetime. For a moment he almost forgot the virus, but it sprang to the front of his mind, screaming for his attention.  
  
Pulling away he stared at her in shock "The virus?" he managed to gasp, air in short supply.  
  
A smile, peaceful and calm, slipped across her face "It doesn't matter, for now, just this one moment you're safe and the virus can't hurt us."  
  
The words pulled at that sour note within his mind again, but he had been waiting for this moment for too long to worry about anything but Max.  
  
Opening his arms to her he was surprised when she sat on his lap with no hesitation, resting her forehead against his; he stared into her eyes for an instant, and then moved slightly to kiss her gently.  
  
At least it started out that way, just a soft brushing of lips, but quickly it deepened into something much more, the passion and pain between the two of them overwhelming in its desperation.  
  
How long they remained there just enjoying the long denied sensation of touch Logan was never to know, because suddenly Max pulled away, gasping.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned at the expression on her face. Lifting a trembling hand he stroked her warm cheek, marveling at the solid sensation that he felt, the surge of emotion and desire in his body.  
  
"Nothing," she replied, uncertainty flickering across her face. "I just need to use the bathroom." With a strained smile she stood from his lap and began moving towards the hallway.  
  
As she reached the point where she would leave his sight she turned suddenly and met his eyes, "I love you, always." Keeping eye contact for a moment more she turned and headed into the bathroom.  
  
Wondering slightly at the sudden swing the mood had taken Logan sat looking in the direction Max had disappeared in. There was definitely something bothering her, perhaps this "cure" was only temporary like the last and she was unsure how to break the news to him.  
  
It didn't matter, none of the outside world mattered; only Max, only this now.  
  
The phone began to ring and absently he picked it up, "Hello?"  
  
"Hello. To whom am I speaking?" asked an unfamiliar voice, jolting his thoughts away from Max for a moment.  
  
"Well, that depends. To whom am I speaking?" he replied suspiciously.  
  
"Sorry. This is Julie Camby; I'm a nurse in the emergency room at Harbor Lights. And you are?"  
  
"Still wondering why you're calling me."  
  
"We treated a young woman this morning for a gunshot wound. She didn't have any identification on her, only her pager, and yours was the last number to call in." said the nurse kindly.  
  
Logan's mind began screaming: the only person he had paged today was Max, but... Max was... here.  
  
After a few moments of silence as Logan denied the truth to himself the nurse continued as "Still with me, sir?"  
  
"Could you hold for just a second" he asked woodenly, pressing the hold button on the phone and placing it gently on a nearby table. With a deep breath he began to wheel towards the bathroom, already knowing what he would find.  
  
Opening the door slowly he stared at the emptiness of the room.  
  
"Max!" he screamed, agony tearing through his soul.  
  
Only a slight echo returned to his straining ears, Max was gone; leaving a broken man in a broken world.  
  
Just moments ago she had been here, solid, warm and in his arms. Yet somehow, unbelievably, she was lying across the city - cold and unmoving - his love; dead.  
  
Slowly he returned to the phone, as he began to make arrangements for a funeral he held onto the words she had given him in that precious time she had spent with him that morning.  
  
It was just a fleeting moment, the moment of passing. 


End file.
